Chess Traps: Pitfalls And Swindles

by Fred Reinfeld, I.A. Horowitz

This is a rich storehouse of Chess 'crimes.' Sometimes the villain is thwarted: more often he gets away with his nefarious deeds. But, in either event, the tales, and their telling, will prove to be instructive and vastly entertaining.

Genres: Chess, Games

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1971

Reviews

[Mason Van Tuyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great book for a beginner like me, but it doesn’t really show how to set up a trap. I found that this book has helped me BIG TIME with my positional chess. It unveils a whole new world of moves and was wowing me at the games that were iterated.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other reviewers have said, this book is more entertaining than instructive, and is meant for players with some experience.

There is a section in the middle about common opening pitfalls, and how even experienced players can get careless and fall into them. But many of the positions shown have come from actual chess tournament games, and the book's major lesson, as indicated by one chapter title, "Even The Masters Can Go Wrong". In other words, they can commit dumb-dumb mistakes due to time pressure, or failing to spot certain aspects of the overall position, or simply not thinking of what the opponent can do. Risks can be taken-but as the name implies, risks can go wrong as well.

The entertainment comes from the fact that you can see the great masters make goofs, and the reader can laugh at them for it, as well as traps that are so deep you are impressed how they work out. But for beginners requiring instruction, other books would be more suitable.

[notgettingenough · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first chess books I owned. I won the brilliancy prize in my first national championship and this was it. I won it for a Scotch Gambit and I suppose this book might have encouraged me along such paths. In practice, however, this did not happen...maybe once I realised that the road to victory was paved with traps, pitfalls and swindles, it moved me towards ways of playing that would avoid that whole short, sharp, painful way to lose.

I'm a coward, what can I say?

Oh, for the record, Reinfeld is great. He went through a period of being denigrated for no more than being popular. Maybe he still is??? But he made chess fun. And if you owned, as I once did, a library of his obscure, early, roneoed publications in purple ink, you'd realise just how much he loved the game.

[Cormac Zoso · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I.A. Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld are well-known and respected writers in the chess world, this one is not on of their better ones frankly. It covers poorly played openings and positions by GMs and what we can learn from them. Meh ... I'm afraid it's just not that interesting and these kinds of books which try and buck up the confidence and self-image of the regular player by showing them how badly a real pro can play sometimes. These kind of books just don't hit the mark for me. They go along with those books that tell you 'how NOT to play chess'. Frankly, I'd like a more positive route than a backwards, negative one. I suppose that the chess publishing industry thinks that these kinds of titles will help sell more books. *shrug* ... not to me. If I hadn't received it as a gift many years ago, I never would have bought it and nor do I ever buy the 'how not to' types these days. On top of that, it's just not that interesting when you get down to it. Not one you'll need to fill out your bookshelf.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have rediscovered my modest chess library! This book has a nice premise: the title says it all, "Chess traps, pitfalls, & swindles." The first part notes that even great players can get duped, such as Alekhine. One piece speaks of baiting a trap. Part II begins with a chapter entitled "'Transparent; Traps and Pitfalls." Part III focuses on "Gimmicks." The fourth part has an intriguing title--"Gimmick versus Gimmick."

A fun book, and one with some useful lessons for the would-be chess player.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second Chess book; it's less readable than Short's glossy tome.

[Corey Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

More entertaining than instructive, but a fun book nonetheless.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book - not much good for long term strategy, but will increase the safety of a beginner's play.